So free houses will be a while, but I do worry about a shift in the job market.My gut feeling is we will see unemployment depart from the ultra low 3.9% it is now in the next couple months, which has more to do with consumer spending than with AI.

Private/Hard Money lenders do not lend on owner occupied properties due to consumer protection laws.

Are they actually as time consuming as people say "4am toilet broken events"?

As more and more states see flipping “wholesaling” residential real estate where a homeowner is involved as needing consumer protection the fantasy of no capital no experience easy entry in this field will be eliminated (good riddance!).  

This is a pretty common issue and isn't generally a bad thing since this lets you know the VRBO's algorithm is pushing your listing out to consumers (Not the right type but still).

A strong decrease in rates means three things-- the economy has been hit, the average consumer has likely been hit harder, and sellers are going to be more open to selling.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Shelter: According to the U.S.

The “headline” CPI (Consumer Price Index = inflation) for June declined 0.1% month-over-month, and the “core” CPI (excluding food & fuel) rose only 0.1% MoM.

The combo of rising unemployment, reduced inflation and stalling consumer confidence is lowering yields on the longer end of the curve. 

Everything I've seen is townhouses that were built to be sold directly to consumers and when the units couldn't sell individually, the developers cut their losses and sold to out of town 1031 buyers looking for an easy button.